Elysium Poem by Janine Ecks

Twenty-two droplets of blood from my vein
Swallowed up by this pitch-black abyss
Vanish forever, a stream of me drained,
An unfair exchange for death's intimate kiss.

Spent, I collapse in a bed of white roses.
Whisper-soft petals dance on my skin...
In this release, my mind finally dozes;
Light as a feather, it drifts on the wind.

This is Elysium. This is my tomb.
Here dwell the nymphae who tickle my ears
With their twittering song, and the Fates on their loom.
Such curiosities! Time disappears...

This warm embrace I faintly recall,
But hungry for comfort, I fall to its charms
And the memory sharpens, eclipsing it all -
The Time Before Life, in the Goddess's arms.